In this article, we’ll dig deeper into Korean pronouns and learn about Korean possessive pronouns! Korean pronouns are yet another crucial Korean grammar to learn. As you know from any language’s grammar lessons, a possessive pronoun indicates that something (item, building, and so on) belongs to someone. Below you can find Korean possessive pronouns, including a short explanation of their use. 의 (ui) is the main formal possessive pronoun to be used. It is attached to the subject of the sentence, so the person or thing possesses the pronoun. In other words, while it officially means “of,” 의 (ui) works quite similarly to possessive pronouns in other languages. The possessive pronoun 의 (ui) is not only attached to third-person pronouns but is also used for first-person, second-person, and so on. However, in these cases, as we will show below, it may appear a little differently to make sentences sound more natural and less clunkily formal. Now that you’re familiar with the general way to build a possessive pronoun, we can move forward to teaching you how to specifically use it in the first person and so on. Let’s first talk about the first-person pronouns. However, you will rarely see these possessive pronouns in motion like this. Instead, these possessive determiners are typically shortened just a little bit. This will help ease the flow of the word. Therefore, rather than 저의 (jeoui) and 나의 (naui), Koreans will use 제 (je) and 내 (nae). Here is an example that may help you understand. As you may remember from above, the word 책 (chaek) means “book.” So, all of these short phrases mean “my book.” Either way you spell it out is correct, but as you may also notice, 제 (je) and 내 (nae) will roll off your tongues, keyboards, and pens a lot more naturally than 저의 (jeoui) and 나의 (naui). For the plural form, you don’t need to change anything. Just replace 저 (jeo) with 우리 (uri). In comparison to some other languages, such as the English language, determiners of possessive second-person pronouns are rare. Instead, as seen in the examples above, it is more common to use third-person possessive pronouns even when technically speaking in the second person. Oftentimes, Koreans like to drop 의 (ui) entirely when spoken outside of the first person, especially in non-honorific situations. So don’t get startled if you accidentally say or write 레나 씨 책 (renassi chaek) instead of 레나 씨의 책 (renassiui chaek). Grammatically it may be wrong, but in everyday speech, it is perfectly fine to use, and would also be how Koreans do it. On a more informal level, you may use 꺼 (kkeo) instead of 것 (geot). It is also more commonly used by Koreans, which is why you may see it in use even in more polite language. The formal way to say “our” in Korean is 저희의 (jeohuiui), while 우리의 (uriui) is used when you are speaking informally. And there you have it! You can now introduce people to your books, cars, and so on! If you’d like to learn more about Korean personal pronouns instead, these are covered in this separate article on Korean pronouns. Plus, explore our free Korean resources on our blog, YouTube, and social media. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur vitae lectus urna.